Secondary battery.



No. 738,188. PATENTBD SEPT. e, 1903. G. E. HATCH.

SECONDARY BATTERY.

APPLICATION FILED I'EB. 13, 1899.

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UNITED STATES Patented September 8, 1903.

PATENT 7 OFF E.

GEORGE E. HATCH, OF QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNCR, BY MESNEASSIGNMENTS, TO THE HATCH ACCUMULATCR COMPANY, OF KIT- TERY, MAINE, ANDBOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

SECONDARY BATTERY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 738,188, dated.September 8, 1903. Application filed February 13,1899. Serial No.705,387. (no model.)

To (tZZ whom, it ntay concern:

Beit known that I, GEORGE E. HATCH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Quincy, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in SecondaryBatteries, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to secondary batteries or electrical accumulators,and more particularly to batteries of that type in which porous supportsare used for carrying or confining the active material in whole or inpart, my invention being intended to produce a durable and efficientsecondary battery of the type referred to.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in WhichFigure 1 is a sectional view through a cell parallel to the electrodeswith certain parts broken away. Fig. 2 is a central vertical sec tionthrough a cell at right angles to the plane of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a faceview of a rigid porous support-plate. Fig. 4 is a face view of a supportused in the construction of a negative-pole electrode. Fig. 5 is atransverse section through a porous support-plate loaded with activematerial or material adapted to become active. Fig. 6 is a transversesection through the device shown in Fig. 4. combined with activematerial or material adapted to become active. Fig. 7 is a transversesection through a complete couple composed of the parts shown in Figs. 5and 6 assembled together in combination with their respectiveconductingplates. Fig. 8 is a transverse section through aslightly-modified form of support of the type shown in Fig. 4 combinedwith active material.

In the drawings each ofthe positive-pole electrodes of my battery isshown as composed of a rigid porous support-plate 2, which is best madeof kaolin or similar acid-resisting material containing no iron and ispreferably corrugated in one direction, so as to provide a number ofparallel grooves 3, which are filled on one side of the plate withactive material 4 or material adapted to become active when the batteryis charged. Red lead is commonly used for the purpose and may be appliedto the plate in the form of a paste in a manner well known in the art.

In constructing the negative -pole electrodes of my battery I employthin porous plates 6, preferably made of light porous wood, each platehaving the form of a shallow tray on one side, as shown in Fig. 8, or onboth sides, as shown in Fig. 6, and being provided with a profusion ofholes 7 piercing its bottom. The red lead or equivalent material 5 isfilled into the holes 7 and into the tray or trays until it is level orslightly more than level with the edges thereof. These trays serve tosupport and give form to the masses of material 5 during the process offormation of the cell; but inasmuch as said masses are reduced by theforming process to the condition of firm, coherent, and durable massesof porous or spongy metallic lead, which are capable of'supporting theirown weight without crumbling, the trays 6 need not be as heavy and rigidas the support-plates 2, but may be made very thin and light and of avariety of materials, such as wood, plaster-of-paris, asbestos cloth,and the like.

The conducting-plates of my battery are made from thin sheets ofsuitable material, such as metallic lead, and are cut out to correspondin size with the adjacent parts of the cell, an upwardly-projectingstrip being left on each of them to serve as a means of connection withthe other plates of like polarity. I have shown the conducting-plates 8as provided with a number of pockets or perforations 9, which in usebecome filled with the electrolyte and are designed to serve asreservoirs thereof ready to supply the same to the adjacent activematerial when needed, as in the case of an excessively high rate ofdischarge. These perforations may be omitted, however, without affectingmy presentinvention.

In assembling the parts above described a loaded support-plate 2 isplaced against one of the conducting-plates 8, with the material 4 incontact therewith and preferably with the grooves 3 vertical in order toallow a free passage upward for the escape of the gases genand as manyof them as desired may be combined in one cell in a well-known manner,with the positive and negative conductingplates alternating with oneanother, in which case each plate except the two outer ones serves assuch for two like masses of active material. The connecting-strips 11 onthe plates 8 are located on one side of the cell and joined together toform one terminal thereof, and the corresponding strips 12 on the plates10 are located on the opposite side of the cell and similarlyjoinedtogether to form the other terminal. The couples may be held together bymeans of backs 13, of glass, slate, paraffined wood, or equivalentacid-proof material, placed against the opposite faces of the combinedelement and held thereto by rubber bands 14, passing around the element.When the elements are large, the bands 14 may be made of lead andprovided with small rubber buffers beneath them. The structure is thusmade integral and permanent in form, while at the same time it iscapable of sufficient expansion and contraction to satisfy theconditions of use. The element is of course suitably supported in areceptacle 15, containing the usual electrolyte 16, and any desirednumber of such cells may be combined in the usual manner.

It will be seen that in my battery the mass of active material of eachnegative-pole electrode is supported on a sort of framework, which notonly keeps said material in proper relation to the adjacent parts of thecell during the forming process and adds strength to the electrode whenformed, but also provides for the direct exposure of the outer face ofthe mass of material to the action of the electrolyte, while by reasonof the perforation of these supporting-frameworks and the porosity ofthe material of which they are made the permeation of the electrolytethrough the active material is freely permitted. The rigid poroussupport-plates 2 serve to insulate the adjacent electrodes from eachother and also afford lateral support to the negative-pole electrodesand give rigidity to the element as a whole, while the grooves in theouter faces of these support-plates provide for a free circulation ofthe electrolyte and ready access thereof to the negative-pole electrodesand also for the escape of the gases generated at said electrodes, whichpass directly from the h .r'ssnss same into said grooves and thenceupward out of the cell.

I do not claim herein broadly a secondary battery in which a positivepole electrode comprising a porous non-conducting support is combinedwith a negative-pole electrode laterally supported by said poroussupport and having its chemically-active surface directly exposed to theaction of the electrolyte in spaces provided between said surface andsupport, as such construction is claimed in another application forLetters Patent filed by me on the 14th day of July, 1899, Serial No.723,753, which application is to be regarded as a division of andsubstitute for this present application so far as it includes patentablesubject-matter herein shown and described, but not claimed. My presentinvention relates to the construction herein described of thenegative-pole electrodes, and it will be evident that said electrodesmay be combined with positive-pole electrodes of any desiredconstruction, so long as provision is made for insulating adjacentelectrodes from each other and for giving proper lateral support to thenegative-pole electrodes.

I claim as my invention-- 1. In a secondary battery, an electrodecomprising a conducting-plate in combination with a perforated poroussupport and a continuous layer of active material applied to one face ofsaid support and confined between it and said conducting-plate, incontact with the latter, substantially as described.

2. Inasecondary battery, an electrode comprising a conducting-plate,eachface of which is held in contact with a porous support provided withperforations and loaded with active material, said active material beingspread over the entire surface of said support between the latter andsaid plate, substantially as described.

3. In a secondary battery, the combination with a positive-poleelectrode having as one of its elements a rigid, porous support-plate,of a negative-pole electrode comprising a conducting-plate and aperforated porous tray filled with active material and confined betweensaid supportplate and conductingplate, the active material being spreadover the entire inner face of the tray and held in contact with theconducting-plate, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this 1lth day ofJanuary, 1899.

GEORGE E. HATCH.

lVitnesses:

E. 1). CHADWIOK, W. E. ELLIs.

